For all the naked dresses and rib-crunching corsets, the Met Gala is a branding exercise and this year, Victoria Beckham came out with flying colours. The designer picked the perfect star to wear her work (not always the case for creatives climbing the social ladder), and imagined a thoughtful look befitting both the “Garden of Time” messaging and Phoebe Dynevor herself. With its hand-cut flowers and vintage lace, the faded rose gown (designed to complement the actor’s complexion) was a lesson in quiet excellence and proved that in a sea of look-at-me fashion, it’s not always the gowns that shout the loudest that make the biggest splash. On the after-party circuit, Dynevor wore a little black dress of Victoria’s design to confirm her engagement, cementing this as an authentic partnership away from the bright lights of the Met. The fact that Victoria was absent showed the night was about the work, not herself.
Beckham’s nudge to becoming a bona fide red-carpet designer has been taking shape for some time, but a new period of profitability is giving the brand serious clout. The Hollywood move plays to her strengths. “I have stood on so many red carpets and seen so many images of myself that I understand the importance of a strong silhouette, because you’re photographed from every angle,” Beckham tells me over email. “I’ve learnt from being the person in that position, so it’s something I’ve always had a strong point of view on. I’m excited it’s a reality; it’s not just me wearing these pieces, but stars I have an enormous amount of respect for.”
While VB’s inner circle (Nicola Peltz, Eva Longoria) has long pledged allegiance to her fluid slip dresses (the liquid-silver, Studio 54-inspired look Victoria wore to her son Brooklyn’s wedding was truly excellent advertising), there has been a steady trickle of high-profile fans doing more for the brand than any advertising campaign could. Take Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who wore a black strapless jumpsuit with strings of silver diamantés tumbling down the front, to Cannes, which is the biggest platform for spring fashion, besides the Met Gala. She out-crystalled anyone who showed up with a jewellery sponsor (Rosie’s is Tiffany & Co., since you asked), and proved that not only the headline acts pay dividends on the Croisette (see: Saint Laurent, who had no less than three films at the festival.)
“These garments take an enormous amount of work from the design team and the atelier, and it’s such a proud moment for us all when we see those garments on the red carpet,” notes Beckham, who must surely have been pleased to see Zoe Saldaña recently modelling a directional red-carpet look from the popular autumn/winter 2024 collection which, she told Vogue Runway at the time, is “about the silhouette – building up the shoulderline, suspending things” (cc: Huntington-Whiteley). Ditto Helena Christensen in a pearlescent silk, bias-cut dress at a Breitling event and Sydney Sweeney in a lemon asymmetrical look on one of her seemingly endless movie promo tours, which showed VB is a dab hand at draping.
In the fashion rat race, it’s possible to forget the fact that Madonna was the first star to ever model Victoria Beckham for W magazine and that the Kardashian-Jenners have been key proponents of VB’s jewel-toned fancies, with Kim once styling a lilac spaghetti-strapped gown with a Dolce-esque crucifix pendant at Paris Fashion Week and Kendall teaming a whisper of a green dress with elbow-length gloves at a Dubai hotel launch. Queen Letizia of Spain bought in somewhere around the Coronation and the Brit contingent – including Florence Pugh, Adwoa Aboah and Simone Ashley – have kept VB’s name in fashion headlines while seasoned Hollywoodites – from Jessica Chastain to Nicole Kidman – dip in and dip out of brand Beckham’s world.
VB’s ability to appeal to both Willow Smith and Naomi Watts does not lie in her celebrity status, but the fact her design knowledge is going from strength to strength. People want in. While it would once have perhaps been inconceivable for the designer to showcase her work on the stairs of the Met museum (Beckham herself wore other brands, including Marc Jacobs, when attending the ball during the early days building her label), in 2024, Dynevor’s diaphonous gown was one of the highlights of the night. Victoria has waited, watched and honed her craft all the while catering to the same customer who has been sniffing around Victoriabeckham.com since 2008. “I’m really designing what I desire,” she said of her most recent edit. “A woman-to-woman collection.” Some might call this girl power.
Still, there is an element of hard graft and delicious self-deprecation (check out her history of logo tees) that is endearing. Indeed, it’s not often that we have such direct access to creative directors. “I was never the best at anything,” she confessed on her 50th. “I was never the popular girl, I’ve always had to work really, really hard. I always say dream big, and then dream even bigger.” Beckham’s wish for 2024? “It is my ambition to have more of a presence on the red carpet now that my atelier is growing and I can do more of it.” Tinseltown better watch this space but, for now, there could be the possibility of a Dynevor wedding on the cards…